{"id":6411,"date":"2012-12-28T06:32:27","date_gmt":"2012-12-28T11:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=6411"},"modified":"2012-12-28T06:35:31","modified_gmt":"2012-12-28T11:35:31","slug":"predictions-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2012\/12\/predictions-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"How well did we do with our predictions for 2012?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are reviewing our predictions of what we believed might have been some of the big tech\/ICT stories of 2012<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

In our first post for 2012, we highlighted what we believe might be important issues during the year: see 10 topics that will be in the news in 2012<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. Here, we review those predictions to see how well we fared.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Cyber crime and security<\/b><\/h3>\n

The year coming to a close was a big year for cybercrime and cybersecurity. A number of organisations both internationally and in the Caribbean were reported in the news as having experienced unauthorised intrusions, which in some instances resulted in the theft of information. In the region, we also had a number of cases of ATM fraud, along with lottery and advanced payment scams, which began to highlight the breadth and depth of the threats to which victims are being subject.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Online piracy<\/b><\/h3>\n

In late 2011, we highlighted the draft Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)<\/i><\/b><\/a>, which Had been introduced in the United States House of Representatives. Although it was rejected early this year, other pieces of legislation, such as the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act<\/i>, more commonly referred to as the PROTECT IP Act <\/i><\/b><\/a>and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Act (ACTA)<\/i><\/b><\/a>, reinforced the fact that online Intellectual Property Rights was still high on developed countries\u2019, especially the United States\u2019, agenda.<\/p>\n

We must also draw attention to the takedown of Megaupload<\/i><\/b><\/a>, which the United States Government alleged engaged in or facilitated copyright violations. The company directors and members of its executive were arrested and Megaupload subscribers were barred from accessing data they had stored on the site, which in many instances was subsequently was deleted, all of which effectively obliterated the service.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 The BlackBerry<\/b><\/h3>\n

The saga of the BlackBerry continued this year, with industry analysts taking bets as to how much longer the BlackBerry and its parent company, Research in Motion (RIM), might last. Within the company, major changes occurred. Both co-founders were ousted as co-CEOs and a concerted effort to downsize operations commenced.<\/p>\n

Although RIM was continually in the news during 2012, and even released a few new devices, it was not a stellar year for the company, and neither was it one where it attempted a comeback. Release of the much-anticipated Operating System (OS), BlackBerry 10, has been delayed by almost a year, but is slated to be launched on 30 January 2013.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 Near Field Communications<\/b><\/h3>\n

Near Field Communications (NFC) did not appear to gain the prominence expected over the past 12 months. Although a number of smartphones using the Android OS 4.0 (also known as Ice Cream Sandwich) were launched, the capability was not widely promoted until Samsung began to feature it in its Christmas advertising with the tagline \u201cthe next big thing is here\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n